<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_jdis-2018-0001_s_008_w2aab3b7b1b1b6b1aab1c18b1Aa"><h3>Purpose</h3><p>In this contribution we continue our investigations related to the activity index (<italic>AI</italic>) and its formal analogs. We try to replace the <italic>AI</italic> by an indicator which is better suited for policy applications.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2018-0001_s_009_w2aab3b7b1b1b6b1aab1c18b2Aa"><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3><p>We point out that fluctuations in the value of the <italic>AI</italic> for a given country and domain are never the result of that country’s policy with respect to that domain alone because there are exogenous factors at play. For this reason we introduce the <italic>F</italic>-measure. This <italic>F</italic>-measure is nothing but the harmonic mean of the country’s share in the world’s publication output in the given domain and the given domain’s share in the country’s publication output.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2018-0001_s_010_w2aab3b7b1b1b6b1aab1c18b3Aa"><h3>Findings</h3><p>The <italic>F</italic>-measure does not suffer from the problems the <italic>AI</italic> does.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2018-0001_s_011_w2aab3b7b1b1b6b1aab1c18b4Aa"><h3>Research limitations</h3><p>The indicator is not yet fully tested in real cases.</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2018-0001_s_012_w2aab3b7b1b1b6b1aab1c18b5Aa"><h3>R&amp;D policy management</h3><p>In policy considerations, the <italic>AI</italic> should better be replaced by the <italic>F</italic>-measure as this measure can better show the results of science policy measures (which the <italic>AI</italic> cannot as it depends on exogenous factors).</p></sec><sec id="j_jdis-2018-0001_s_013_w2aab3b7b1b1b6b1aab1c18b6Aa"><h3>Originality/value</h3><p>We provide an original solution for a problem that is not fully realized by policy makers.</p></sec></abstract>

PurposeIn this contribution we continue our investigations related to the activity index (AI) and its formal analogs. We try to replace the AI by an indicator which is better suited for policy applications.Design/methodology/approachWe point out that fluctuations in the value of the AI for a given country and domain are never the result of that country’s policy with respect to that domain alone because there are exogenous factors at play. For this reason we introduce the F-measure. This F-measure is nothing but the harmonic mean of the country’s share in the world’s publication output in the given domain and the given domain’s share in the country’s publication output.FindingsThe F-measure does not suffer from the problems the AI does.Research limitationsThe indicator is not yet fully tested in real cases.R&D policy managementIn policy considerations, the AI should better be replaced by the F-measure as this measure can better show the results of science policy measures (which the AI cannot as it depends on exogenous factors).Originality/valueWe provide an original solution for a problem that is not fully realized by policy makers.

The <italic>F</italic>-measure for Research Priority

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":{"italic":"F","content":["The","-measure for Research Priority"]}}

PurposeIn this contribution we continue our investigations related to the activity index (AI) and its formal analogs. We try to replace the AI by an indicator...

The F-measure for Research Priority

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Mar 13, 2018

Page range: 1 - 18

Received: Nov 01, 2017

Accepted: Dec 25, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2018-0001

Keywords
Activity index, Harmonic mean, -measure, Research policy, Endogenous and exogenous factors

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The F-measure for Research Priority

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Mar 13, 2018

Page range: 1 - 18

Received: Nov 01, 2017

Accepted: Dec 25, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2018-0001

KeywordsActivity index, Harmonic mean, -measure, Research policy, Endogenous and exogenous factors

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Activity index, Harmonic mean, -measure, Research policy, Endogenous and exogenous factors